Spike Lee

I feel like starting a volatile thread! And one that, aside from detours in other discussions, has been a long time in coming.

I think Spike Lee is brash, arrogant, egotistical, sometimes annoying and also one of the greatest filmmakers, period. Although his track record isn't as good, I think his talent is comparable to and even equal with Scorsese's. Aside from their mutual love of New York, their styles have a gritty, in your face brashness.

Lee's best films, in order (and in my opinion) are

1. Do The Right Thing2. Malcom X3. He Got Game4. 25th Hour

I'd like to provide a counterpoint to an arguement of Onamotopoeia's, who in another thread, said that he thought Malcom X was Lee's worst film, a piece of racist propaganda, if I remember correctly. I don't understand this opinion at all; it's as if he rented the VHS but didn't watch the second tape. Malcom clearly rejects the teachings of the Nation Of Islam in the last act of the film and coming to the realization that equality is the only true solution; indeed, the Nation is blatantly accused of assasinating him. The film supports nothign if not racial harmony (it's also just a brilliant piece of filmmaking, marred only by Lee's own mugging for the camera in the early scenes).

i would agree with most of what you said. his films are ALWAYS thought provoking which is a good thing in the "we don't wanna think!" mentality of americans today.

but sometimes he's just annoying and foolish like his bashing of quentin tarantino's JACKIE BROWN. he really didn't like the was tarantino used the n-word so many times in that particular film but he's ok with it in PULP FICTION. and wasn't tarantino in GIRL 6?

and his rant about the new TNN changing it's name to spike TV. he's actually suing (sp?) the people @ TNN for ripping off his name. hey spike lee! they didn't name the muthafucka after you! your real name isn't even spike. maybe it was named after spike jonze, but wait that's not his real name either.

i'd come up with a top 5 of my favorite spike lee films but as so it stands i only have a top 4

1. DO THE RIGHT THING2. MALCOLM X3. BAMBOOZLED4. THE 25th HOUR

\"a pair of eyes staring at you, projected on a large screen is what cinema is truly about.\" -volker schlöndorff

"In Serbia a lot of people hate me because they want to westernise, not understanding that the western world is bipolar, with very good things and very bad things. Since they don't have experience of the west, they even believe that western shit is pie."-Emir Kusturica

Spike is one of the best filmmakers out there, and a damn interesting person. He can be misguided at times, sure, but that just makes him more fun to watch. And whether you like him or not, you gotta admit, the guys got balls.

He does the best focus pulls. I usually find them annoying in movies, but not in his.

Those who say that the totalitarian state of the Soviet Union was not "real" Marxism also cannot admit that one simple feature of Marxism makes totalitarianism necessary: the rejection of civil society. Since civil society is the sphere of private activity, its abolition and replacement by political society means that nothing private remains. That is already the essence of totalitarianism; and the moralistic practice of the trendy Left, which regards everything as political and sometimes reveals its hostility to free speech, does nothing to contradict this implication.

When those who hated capital and consumption (and Jews) in the 20th century murdered some hundred million people, and the poster children for the struggle against international capitalism and America are now fanatical Islamic terrorists, this puts recent enthusiasts in an awkward position. Most of them are too dense and shameless to appreciate it, and far too many are taken in by the moralistic and paternalistic rhetoric of the Left.

What are focus pulls? You might have to use a specific example to make me understand. Anyway...Spike Lee...

do the right thingjungle fever25th hourhe got gameclockers

That's all I've seen and I love them all, except Clockers which I really don't get. Yea, he is a great filmmaker. I'd be interested in Summer of Sam as well as Malcolm X. I tried to watch School Daze once but it seemed stupid and boring. Bamboozled seemed pretty bad too. Nobody ever said he was perfect and that's perfectly fine with me.

I feel like starting a volatile thread! And one that, aside from detours in other discussions, has been a long time in coming.

I think Spike Lee is brash, arrogant, egotistical, sometimes annoying and also one of the greatest filmmakers, period. Although his track record isn't as good, I think his talent is comparable to and even equal with Scorsese's. Aside from their mutual love of New York, their styles have a gritty, in your face brashness.

Lee's best films, in order (and in my opinion) are

1. Do The Right Thing2. Malcom X3. He Got Game4. 25th Hour

I'd like to provide a counterpoint to an arguement of Onamotopoeia's, who in another thread, said that he thought Malcom X was Lee's worst film, a piece of racist propaganda, if I remember correctly. I don't understand this opinion at all; it's as if he rented the VHS but didn't watch the second tape. Malcom clearly rejects the teachings of the Nation Of Islam in the last act of the film and coming to the realization that equality is the only true solution; indeed, the Nation is blatantly accused of assasinating him. The film supports nothign if not racial harmony (it's also just a brilliant piece of filmmaking, marred only by Lee's own mugging for the camera in the early scenes).

So anyway...let's discuss this guy.

Tomorrow, I'm going to go out and check out Malcolm X (if it's at my university's library), among other films of Lee's, because I need to give them another chance (and some a first chance). Bamboozled sounds like a brilliant premise, though I know critics didn't like it. 25th Hour didn't even come to theatres here, when it may very well have been one of the best films of 2002. Really unfortunate. In short, Lee is one of the best directors around, despite what I agree with you about: his brash attitude.

See, I was blown away by Do The Right Thing. Its dance with Rosie Perez is one of the best openings in film ever. And all throughout the film his use of color is excellent. John Tuturro, Danny Aiello, and Spike Lee himself all put in great performances, and while the ending was controversial, it really couldn't have ended any other way. In a film criticism class I took, we watched this, and one of the points brought up was no black person has ever asked if Mookie "did the right thing." Whites do all the time. I still think it was wrong of Mookie to vandalise Sal's property, then have the gaul to come in the next day and ask for his paycheck. But then again, if Mookie didn't Sal probably would have been killed by the mob.

Definitely see Jungle Fever...if you don't like it I can guarantee you will at least be moved by John Turturro and Annabella Sciorra's preformances. It is impossible not to be. Michael Imperioli and this other italian guy are great too as Angie's brothers. Then there's Samuel L Jackson in one of his many great roles which I think he won Best Actor for at Cannes. There's so many great little parts that amount to something great overall.

One warning, a lot of it's greatness doesn't have much to do with Wesley Snipes.

Focus pulls are when the focus changes from one object to another in the middle of a shot. Most often used to call attention to a new element in a shot. I'm sure someone with cap capabilities can get you a good 'before and after' screen grab example...

For the record, one of the most amazing focus pulls I've ever seen was in a Kids In The Hall sketch...but I don't remember which one.

Anyway, back to Spike. Clockers was the first film of his I saw; it was actually originally going to be directed by Scorsese, but he decided to give it to Spike and just produce instead.

That opening sequence in Do The Right Thing is indeed one of the most brilliant intros ever. It's so in your face! The colors are just eye-popping, and of course 'Fight The Power' is an awesome anthem.

It used to kind of bug me when he puts the characters on a moving platform along with the camera. I used to think it was kind of distracting, but in 25th Hour he manages to make it look good. The shots in the club where he uses the technique are fantastic.